Exhaustion
by eleanorca
Summary: Some missing scenes from the end of season 8, specifically "Pyramid". Ziva's breakdown and kidnapping and Tony's worrying didn't get much closure, so this is my version.


**So this is what I wished would have happened at the end of season 8. I think they played Tony's worry too lightly after Ziva was found and I think her breakdown in the elevator should have been addressed further, so that's what I did.**

 **This starts during the scene where Gibbs, McGee, and EJ are in the squad room and after they've gotten Cobb and Tony has approached both Ray and Kort. The barn scene is the same dialogue wise but I changed the layout to what I would have liked to see. From there it's totally AU though.**

 **I still want to write more of these little fillers but life is crazy so it may be months. But still if there's anything specific you want me to write about, let me know. As always, please leave any feedback and let me know what you think!**

* * *

"Go. Find DiNozzo. And Ray Cruz."

"Think Ziva's there?"

"Yeah. I'd bet the farm on it."

* * *

"Any reason why Gibbs felt the need to involve Ci-Ray in this?" Tony asked bitterly. McGee had picked him up on the way to Cobb's family farm. Gibbs and Ray were currently in the car in front of them speeding down the highway.

"He's Ziva's boyfriend. And an extra agent to have on hand." McGee replied, trying his best not to upset an already angry Tony.

"I'd rather not have an extra agent than have one from the CIA. I don't trust them, especially Kort or Cruz."

After a moment of silence with high tension in the air McGee spoke again. "I'm sure she's fine Tony. Even Cobb said she was just a distraction."

Tony didn't respond but kept his eyes on the road in front of them, anxious to get there.

* * *

"All clear!"

"Nothing here boss."

"It looks totally abandoned."

They searched the house and came up short. Gibbs looked around, his eyes landing on a structure in the distance. "DiNozzo," he called, getting his senior field agent's attention. "The barn." He pointed in the direction.

Tony nodded and followed Gibbs as the four of them made their way down the path. They paused outside the door, making sure everyone was ready. McGee opened the door as the other three made their way into the barn first.

"Head's up." Gibbs warned, hearing the toy Cobb had used before.

As they made their way further into the barn, they made out Ziva's moans and rushed to her side. They found her laying on the ground, mouth taped shut and arms tied behind her back.

"Ziva," Ray sounded relieved, moving to crouch next to Ziva, but was stopped as Tony and Gibbs made their way past him to get there first. "You alright?" he asked.

Tony brushed Ziva's hair out of her face and carefully removed the tape from her mouth.

"I'm alright," she responded. Thankful for restraint to be gone, but still grunting with pain. Tony put his hand on her side to try to stop her from squirming in the dirt. "Hiding me is a decoy Gibbs."

"Get her up," Gibbs spoke to Tony as the two of them each grabbed an arm to help her stand.

"It's a distraction." The two of them propped her up against whatever was behind them. Tony started to untie her hands as Gibbs checked her head wound. "Cobb needed to keep you occupied."

"Why?" Gibbs asked, still poking around Ziva's head. She hissed in pain and retreated into Tony's side out of reflex. He put his hand out to steady her and she brought her hands in front of her, wringing out her wrists to try and regain some feeling.

"He surrendered because he needed to get inside NCIS. It is the only way he can get close to the man he holds responsible." She hissed again, bringing her hand up to her head to try and block Gibbs' prodding. She leaned further into Tony, who caught a glimpse of the wound. The amount of blood that was on the side of her head and her shirt was alarming. He put his arm around her, holding down her own arms in the process, effectively stopping her from fighting Gibbs.

"Close to who? Vance?"

"SecNav."

Ziva looked up for the first time at McGee and Ray standing off to the side watching.

"Davenport's got 24 hour security," Tony pointed out.

"Well his niece, Special Agent Barrett doesn't," Gibbs spoke up, momentarily stalling his investigation into Ziva's head wound to gauge his senior field agent's reaction. He was surprised to say the least.

Tony looked at Ray, who picked up his phone to call EJ to warn her.

Gibbs took one more look at ZIva's head before speaking. "DiNozzo, take Ziva to the hospital, get her stitched up." He looked down at Ziva, who had stopped fighting and seemed to be relaxing into Tony's hold on her.

"Gibbs, I'm fine," she started, though sounding nothing like she claimed.

"You may think so now, but in a few hours when the adrenaline wears off, you'll think differently." He glared at her. "Besides, that," his gaze shifted in the direction of her wound, "needs stitches."

"Fine, but there is no need for a hospital. Ducky can do it," she challenged.

"Duck's a little busy right now, Ziver," he spoke softly, referring to the recent agents and friends they had lost.

Realization dawned on her and she nodded, allowing Tony to help her out of the barn. After being immobile for a while, she found it hard to move her legs, so she leaned on him and let him do most of the work on the way back up to the cars.

Ray approached them as Tony opened the passenger door. He made sure Ziva was stable leaning against the side of the car before walking away to give them some privacy while he went to get the keys from McGee.

"I'm glad you're alright." He dropped his hands to her waist and leaned down to give her a kiss but she groaned from the contact, making him back away. "Sorry."

"It's ok," she smiled slightly. "Just a little sore."

"Cruz!" Gibbs called, waiting by the other car to get back to NCIS.

Ray looked back down at Ziva. "Gotta go. Call me when you leave the hospital."

She nodded once as he walked away. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she slowly made her way down to the seat as Tony got in the driver's side. She groaned as she reached to pull the door shut.

"Buckle up," Tony spoke, "long ride back."

As they made their way back onto the highway, she closed her eyes and relaxed into her seat a little, finally feeling safe again.

* * *

"Ziva." The first thing she noticed when she woke up was the feeling that she had been hit by a truck. The second was her partner's hand on her shoulder and him calling her name. She opened her eyes barely enough to see him, the bright light making her want to close them again. "We're here," he continued, and for the life of her she couldn't remember where here was supposed to be. Until the throbbing in her head came to her attention and reminded her.

"I just want to go home." She closed her eyes again, not finding the energy to find it.

"I know," he reached to unbuckle her. He made his way out of the car and around to open her door. "And when we're done here, I'll take you home and you can sleep all you want."

"No. I need to help the case." She protested as he helped her out of the car.

"Cobb's in custody. And there's plenty of people working the case." He argued back and led her into the ER.

* * *

An hour later, they finally found themselves back in a room waiting for the doctor. 'Emergency, my ass,' Tony thought.

Ziva was sitting quietly on the flat bed, feet hanging over the side. She hadn't said much since they first entered the ER.

Tony was walking around the small space, looking at anything and everything there was out of boredom.

"Ah, Miss David," the Doctor's voice made them both turn their heads towards the curtain that closed off her 'room' from the hallway. "My name is Dr. Benson. I see you have quite the scratch there." Both he and Tony walked closer to Ziva, Tony taking the spot on Ziva's good side to give the doctor better access.

"Let's take a look here, shall we?" Dr. Benson said as he pulled on a pair of gloves. He moved to Ziva's wound, and she had to stop herself from reaching up and preventing him from touching it like she had done with Gibbs. She gripped the bed with both hands, and Tony rested his on top of the one closest to him. Dr. Benson pushed at the skin a little, causing her to hiss and retract. "Yep. That's going to need several stitches." He stepped back and took his gloves off. "I'm going to get cleaning and numbing supplies and then we'll get started. I'm going to need you to lay down flat with the cut facing up please," he said before leaving the room.

Ziva looked up at Tony and sighed as she adjusted herself onto her stomach on the bed, adjusting her head like Dr. Benson said, actually finding her new position rather comfortable.

She closed her eyes a took a deep breath, feeling Tony's presence beside her head. "I hate stitches." It was true and Tony knew it. She never had a problem with regular needles, but when it came to the thought of someone actually stitching her up, she freaked out a little.

"I know," he reminded her, placing his hand on her head, running his thumb across her hairline, trying his best to relax her. She closed her eyes as he ran his fingers through her hair that wasn't matted with blood. It felt good and she was glad her partner was with her.

"Tony?" she looked up, and he momentarily stopped his movements.

"Yeah?" he asked, meeting her eyes.

"Thank you for staying with me."

"Anytime" he smiled, resuming his motions in her hair and she closed her eyes again.

* * *

"I'm going to shower," Ziva said as she walked into her apartment later that day. Tony followed behind her, carrying her bag of medications and supplies to keep her stitches clean.

"You can't get your stitches wet yet though," Tony pointed out.

"I'm aware," she growled, shutting her bedroom door and leaving Tony by himself in her living room.

The drive back from the hospital had been rough. The pain and irritation from being tied up and getting stitches had gotten to Ziva. And in typical Ziva fashion, she compensated with anger. She had suggested Tony take her back to NCIS to work but he refused, earning a string of Hebrew curse words directed at him. She needed to rest, no matter what she said.

Tony had been worried about her ever since Mike died and she broke down in the elevator. Then Ray's phone number had been scratched into the side of a car and her feelings for him, be it happiness or hatred, or a little bit of both, had resurfaced. Hell, it was because she went to make sure he was safe that she ended up kidnapped. Tony wasn't a fan but he wasn't about to go and stick his nose into another one of her relationships if it meant she was happy. He wanted her to be able to work it out for herself.

He heard the shower turn on and looked around the living room, making his way into the kitchen to find something to eat. He found her kitchen in a similar state to his own: empty. The port to port case had taken a toll on all of them and the last thing on their minds was grocery shopping. Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he called for pizza.

30 minutes later the delivery guy had come and gone but he still heard the shower running. Slightly concerned, he walked to Ziva's bedroom and pushed the door open. He walked to the bathroom door and knocked once.

"Ziva," he paused, not sure how exactly he should ask her if she was ok. He decided to take a neutral route. "I ordered a pizza and it's here if you want some while it's still hot."

He heard her shuffle, like she had been sitting on the floor, and then sniffle, like she had been crying.

"Ok," she sounded less angry and slightly defeated. "I'll be out shortly."

Without saying a word Tony walked back out into the kitchen to fix them both a nice tall glass of water. After all, they technically were still on duty.

Ziva looked at her reflection in the mirror and the only word she could think to describe herself was exhausted. Mentally, physically, emotionally, you name it. She still wasn't sure how she felt about Ray and having to deal with that in the middle of a case had been difficult. Especially since Franks died. Then she had been kidnapped and so many emotions had settled at the surface. She was terrified until she realized she was just a decoy. Then she was impatient waiting to be found. When she saw Gibbs and Tony she had been relieved. But then she saw Ray and her head became a mixture of anger and confusion. She just needed time to sort everything out. But even if she had time she still wasn't sure what she would do. For once, she found herself just wishing someone would make the decision for her and she could hide herself away for a while. She sighed, knowing that could never happen.

* * *

They ate in silence for a while before Ziva noticed Tony was itching to say something.

"Say it," she said pushing her plate away and looking at him.

"I'm worried about you," he didn't even hesitate.

She sighed and sank back into the couch. She figured this was coming but didn't have the energy or want to stop it.

"Ziva, in the past two days, you've had to deal with Mike's death, C-I-Ray coming back, Cobb kidnapping and giving you that nasty blow to the head," he stopped to take a breath. "That's a lot for someone to put up with."

"Tony-"

"Please don't tell me you're fine."

"But what if I am?"

"Then Ziva, that's great," he looked at her. "But I think we both know that isn't true."

She looked away, not having the energy to fight anymore. He noticed she had let her walls down, and for the first time in a while, he remembered just how young she was and how much she had endured in such a short amount of time. She looked almost helpless sitting there and he wanted nothing more than to find a way to make up for all her lost years.

"It's ok not to be ok, Ziva," He shifted slightly towards her. "If you need a break from all of this, just say so. I promise no one will hold it against you."

The first of her tears had fallen and she was overwhelmed with emotions as her chin dropped to her chest and she closed her eyes.

Tony placed his hand on her back. "It's gonna be ok," he tried to reassure her, but to no avail. It seemed to be a catalyst and before he knew it, he had her in his arms again, crying and unsure of her future.

When she had calmed down slightly, he leaned back into the couch, bringing her with him curled into his side with her head on his chest. He pulled the blanket off the arm of the couch and rested it over them both. He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead and she closed her eyes.

"Let's get some rest while we can. I have a feeling we're gonna need it."


End file.
